Cult of the Lamb doctrines let you influence your followers in different ways, and you can build your Cult around these hard and fast rules—you are a cult leader, after all.. If you're planning on going on long Crusades, for example, enacting the doctrine that stops your followers from getting hungry for three days will be a solid choice. Likewise, the Murder Follower option gives you a simple—yet harsh—solution if one of your flock decides to dissent.
You can't choose all the doctrines though, so it makes sense to figure out which ones you want to unlock first and target those—and that's where this guide comes in handy. Below you'll find a list of every Cult of the Lamb doctrine, and what they do, to make your life as a cult leader that much easier.
Cult of the Lamb doctrines: How to unlock them
Doctrines are unlocked fairly early on and aside from the first two which you get automatically, you'll need to collect Commandment Stones to unlock them. You need to acquire Commandment Stone fragments from levelling up followers and you occasionally find them when you're out on a Crusade.
There are five categories to choose from and you'll pick four doctrines from each. Spending a Commandment Stone will give you a choice of two doctrines, Traits or Rituals, though occasionally, one will add a follower action. Traits are automatically taken on by your followers, whereas you'll need to perform Rituals at the cost of Bones. Choose wisely, though, as the doctrine you didn't pick will disappear for the current playthrough.
Best doctrines
Best doctrines for beginners
Many of your doctrine choices will come down to personal preference. That said, there are a couple that are worth targeting early on.
The Murder Follower action is one of the first options in the Law and Order category. It might seem a little extreme but a dissenting follower can cause havoc with the rest of your flock when trying to establish yourself. Just make sure you do the deed at night when no one else is looking.
Belief in the Afterlife—which, unsurprisingly, is found in the Afterlife category—is another handy trait to have active early on. Your followers will naturally age and die and this can cause unrest among the other Cult members. With this trait, your followers won't lose as much Faith when another follower passes on.
Both Ritual Fast and Grass Eater from the Sustenance category are also pretty handy early on, when you might struggle to keep up with the demand for food. Grass is easy to come by while on Crusades and the Ritual Fast will be helpful to keep your flock happy when you unlock longer Crusades.
All Cult of the Lamb doctrines
Here is every doctrine you'll find in Cult of the Lamb. Just remember that you can only unlock one doctrine on each of the four rows for each category.
Automatically unlocked doctrines:
- Bonfire Ritual: Dance around the flame to increase the Cult's faith by 30.
- Read Mind: Interact with followers to read their thoughts, as well as see how hungry, tired, or sick they are.
Afterlife
| Row 1 | Belief in Sacrifice: All Cult members will gain the Belief in Sacrifice Trait. +20 Faith when another Cult member is sacrificed. | Belief in the Afterlife: All Cult members will gain the Belief in the Afterlife Trait. Only lose -5 Faith when a follower dies instead of -20. |
| Row 2 | Ritual of Resurrection: Perform a Ritual at your temple that allows you to bring a dead follower back to life. | Funeral: Perform a Ritual at your temple to conduct a funeral for a recently passed follower. Gain 20 Faith. |
| Row 3 | Respect Your Elders: All Cult members will gain the Respect Your Elders Trait. Followers receive +5 Faith for every elderly follower in the Cult. | Good Die Young: All Cult members will gain the Good Die Young Trait. Gain 10 Faith if an elder is sacrificed, murdered, or consumed but lose 20 Faith if an elder dies naturally. |
| Row 4 | Return to the Earth: Unlocks the Natural Burial building. The corpses of dead followers may return to the earth by becoming fertiliser. | Grieve the Fallen: Unlocks the Grave building. Gain 2 Faith when followers grieve at the Grave. |
Work and Worship
| Row 1 | Faithful: All Cult members will gain the Faithful Trait. Generate Devotion 15% faster. | Industrious: All Cult members will gain the Industrious Trait and increase work speed by 15%. |
| Row 2 | Inspire: Inspire a follower to significantly increase their Loyalty. Replaces the Bless action. | Intimidate: Intimidate a follower to slightly increase their Loyalty as well as make them work 10% harder for two days. Replaces the Bless action. |
| Row 3 | The Glory of Construction: Perform a Ritual at your temple that will immediately build all structures currently under construction. | Ritual of Enlightenment: Perform a Ritual at your temple that will temporarily increase devotion generation speed at your shrine by 20% for three days. |
| Row 4 | Glory Through Toil: Perform a Ritual at your temple which allows your followers to work through three days and nights without getting tired. | Holy Day Ritual: Perform a Ritual at your temple declaring a day of rest. Your followers will not work that day and gain +80 Faith. |
Possessions
| Row 1 | Extort Tithes: Unlocks the Extort Tithes follower action. Collect coins from a follower once a day. | Bribe Follower: Unlocks the Bribe Follower follower action. Bribe a follower with 3x coins to increase their Loyalty. |
| Row 2 | Belief in Materialism: All Cult members will gain the Materialistic Trait. Gain Faith when building better sleeping quarters. | Belief in False Idols: All Cult members will gain the Belief in False Idols Trait. Gain more Faith when placing a decoration building. |
| Row 3 | Alms for the Poor Ritual: Perform a Ritual at your temple in which you distribute coins to all followers to increase their Loyalty. You will also gain +10 Faith. | Ritual of Enrichment: Perform a Ritual at your temple in which all followers donate coins to you. |
| Row 4 | Sacral Architecture: All Cult members will gain the Sacral Architecture Trait. When a new building is constructed gain +5 Faith. | Devotee: All Cult members will gain the Devotee Trait. Gain more Faith when delivering a Sermon. |
Law and Order
| Row 1 | Murder Follower: Unlocks the Murder Follower follower action. A simple solution to many problems, but some followers may find this upsetting… if they're awake to witness it. | Ascend Follower Ritual: Perform a Ritual at your temple in which you can ascend a follower's spirit to a higher plane of existence. All followers gain loyalty. |
| Row 2 | Ritualistic Fight Pit: Perform a Ritual at your temple in which two followers fight to the death—unless you're feeling merciful. | Wedding: Perform a Ritual at your temple so you can marry one of your followers. Gain 30 Faith. |
| Row 3 | Belief in Original Sin: All are born guilty. Reduced Faith loss when putting a follower in jail who is not dissenting. | Belief in Absolution: Freedom above all else. Every day that begins without anyone in prison, gain +10 Faith. |
| Row 4 | Loyalty Enforcer: Perform a Ritual at your temple in which you appoint a follower as your Loyalty Enforcer, tasked with patrolling the Cult and raising the Loyalty of your followers. | Tax Enforcer: Perform a Ritual at your temple in which you appoint a follower as your Tax Enforcer, tasked with collecting coins from other Cult members. |
Sustenance
| Row 1 | Ritual Fast: Perform a Ritual at your temple to declare a fast. Followers will not eat or be hungry for three days. | Feasting Ritual: Unlock the Feasting Ritual. Throw a grand feast for your followers to refill their hunger and gain 25 Faith. |
| Row 2 | Cannibal: All Cult members will gain the Cannibal Trait. +5 Faith when eating a meal made from follower meat. | Grass Eater: All Cult members will gain the Grass Eater Trait. No negative Faith when a follower eats a meal made from grass. |
| Row 3 | Ritual of the Harvest: Perform a Ritual at your temple that causes all seeds to be immediately ready for harvest. | Ritual of the Ocean's Bounty: Perform a Ritual at your temple which for two days will make special fish more likely to appear while fishing. You will also catch double fish. |
| Row 4 | Substances Encouraged: All Cult members will gain the Substances Encouraged Trait. Gain 20 Faith when Brainwashing Ritual is performed. | Belief in Prohibitionism: All Cult members will gain the Belief in Prohibitionism Trait. Increase work speed and devotion generation by 10% but 50% chance of followers becoming sick after the Brainwashing Ritual. |
